Ebony Mail
Ebony Mail is considered by some to be one of the most powerful chest pieces in the games, providing useful protection and abilities. The Elder Scrolls: Arena During the third era, the Eternal Champion was an owner of the mail. It was hidden in Black Marsh after the previous owner, a warrior named Helath Stormbinder lost the favor of Boethiah. Following a strange map, the Eternal Champion eventually found the resting place of the mail and retrieved it for his war against Jagar Tharn. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall During the third era, the Hero of Daggerfall was awarded the Ebony Mail by Boethiah after completing an elimination job. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Ebony mail makes its appearance in Skyrim after completing the Daedric quest, Boethiah's Calling. The cuirass is a heavy armor with an approximate base defense of 46. It grants the wearer the muffle effect, and deals 5 poison damage per second to any enemies nearby. A unique feature of the ebony mail is it grants the wearer a 'shrouded' effect while sneaking, making the wearer appear more like a shadow. Due to the handling of the particle effect's DDS texture file, the smoke effect coming from the mail while using a bow or other weapons can potentially make it difficult to see regardless of the visual settings. EbonyMail night.png|Ebony mail 'Shadow' effect at night. EbonyMail day.png|Ebony mail 'Shadow' effect during the day. Ebonymail_Stats.png|Ebony Mail stats screenshot Uses for Ebony Mail While Ebony Mail is not the only heavy armor in the game with stealth enchantments, it is the most directly acquired. Other heavy armors with muffle, sneak bonuses, lockpicking, etc are randomly generated at traders or in containers and may take significant time to locate due to the many variations possible when the store or chest is first generated. It was originally stated that the Ebony Mail's shrouded effect was only a visual effect, but after further investigation has proven to be a functional part of the armor. The wearer is at least 15-20% harder to detect when sneaking in the armor. Thieves Guild : If you decide to take the Thieves Guild quests later on in the game after you've already specialized in another play style with your character other than thief, the Ebony Mail can give you a much needed edge in completing quite a few Thieves Guild missions. The Dark Brotherhood : This armor will provide synergy in completing your assassination jobs by allowing easier break-in and escape of the targets home or vicinity. Dungeon Diving : The Ebony Mail can give a player an advantage when choosing non-violent approaches to exploring dungeons for whatever reason. Followers : Heavy armor style followers can be made into much less of a liability for a sneaky character by being equipped with the Ebony Mail. It is also advisable to give them equipment further boosting their stealth, such as boots with muffle and fortify sneaking. Vampirism : The armor's added stealth effect stacks significantly well with the stealth bonus from Vampirism (Skyrim). Notes *The "Ebony Mail Muffle" effect completely compensates for the fact the chest piece is heavy armor, the chest piece also makes a character harder to detect than one wearing a light armor chest piece, especially in bright light. **Best results occur when all other pieces of armor are of the light category, the effect does not compensate for wearing all heavy armor, even if said armor also includes normal muffle effects and fortify sneak enchantments. *Please note that the Ebony Mail should not be worn while brawling or sparring with certain npcs (Vilkas, etc), as its poison effect will harm your opponent and earn you a bounty for assault. **Wearing the armor also counts as an unsheathed magically charged hand, as guards will comment as though the player were walking around with spells at the ready. *Enemies MUST either see you or be searching for you for the poison damage to take effect. If you sneak behind an enemy and they do not see you, no poison damage will be dealt. **Enemies can be damaged by the poison effect without detecting the player, the effect will also work while on horseback. **If you attack a horse and then ride it while wearing the mail, the poison effect will slowly kill the horse causing it to buck every few seconds until it dies. *The Ebony Mail is not as advisable if you're an archer as the swirling black effect will block a large portion of your view when you zoom in, especially at night. **If the player is skilled at predicting an enemies movement patterns or uses a detection spell/shout (Aura Whisper, etc), this becomes less of an issue as the player can be accurate despite having a blocked line of sight. Bugs * If the player equips Ebony Mail right in the crouch invisibility animation of Shadow Warrior while under the Invisibility spell, the shadow effects and damage aura may become a default Active Power when crouching (you get shadow tendrils and damage aura without having to wear the Ebony Mail), quicksaving and loading may fix it so that it just works during the 1 second Shadow Warrior perk invisibility. Appearances *The Elder Scrolls: Arena *The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall *The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim References Category:Armor Category:Artifacts Category:Enchanted armor Category:Heavy armor Category:Skyrim: Unique Armor Category:Skyrim: Daedric Artifacts